A New York Times and WallStreet Journal bestseller from Wharton's top-rated professor

Named one of the best books of 2013 by Amazon, the Financial Times,and the Wall Street Journal-- as well as one of Oprah's rivetingreads, Fortune's must-read business books, and the WashingtonPost'sbooks every leader should read.

For generations, we have focused on the individual drivers of success: passion,hard work, talent, and luck. But today, success is increasingly dependent onhow we interact with others. It turns out that at work, most people operate aseither takers, matchers, or givers. Whereas takers strive to get as much aspossible from others and matchers aim to trade evenly, givers are the rarebreed of people who contribute to others without expecting anything in return.

Using his own pioneering research as Wharton's youngest tenured professor, AdamGrant shows that these styles have a surprising impact on success. Althoughsome givers get exploited and burn out, the rest achieve extraordinary resultsacross a wide range of industries. Combining cutting-edge evidence withcaptivating stories, Grant shows how one of America's best networkers developedhis connections, why the creative genius behind one of the most popular showsin television history toiled for years in anonymity, how a basketball executiveresponsible for multiple draft busts transformed his franchise into a winner,and how we could have anticipated Enron's demise four years before the companycollapsed-- without ever looking at a single number.

Praised by bestselling authors such as Susan Cain, Dan Pink, TonyHsieh, Seth Godin, Dan Ariely, Gretchen Rubin, David Allen, Dan Gilbert,and Robert Cialdini-- along with senior leaders from Google, McKinsey, Merck,Estee Lauder, Twitter, Nike, and NASA-- Give and Take highlightswhat effective networking, collaboration, influence, negotiation, andleadership skills have in common. This landmark book opens up an approach tosuccess that has the power to transform not just individuals and groups, butentire organizations and communities.

"Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress"
Is the world really falling apart? Is the ideal of progress obsolete? Cognitive scientist and public intellectual Steven Pinker urges us to step back from the gory headlines and prophecies of doom, and instead, follow the data: In seventy-five jaw-dropping graphs, Pinker shows that life, health, prosperity, safety, peace, knowledge, and happiness are on the rise. Learn more

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Editorial Reviews

An academic, Grant explains that added to hard work, talent, and luck, highly successful people need the ability to connect with others. We learn givers give more than they get, takers get more than they give, and matchers aim to give and get equally; all can succeed. The author’s aim is to explain why we underestimate the success of givers, to explore what separates giver champs from chumps, and what is unique about giver success. Emphasis on teams and the rise of the service sector offers givers access to opportunities that takers and matchers often miss. In the first section, the author explains his principles of giver success, and, in the second part, with insightful stories he explores the costs of giving and how givers can protect themselves against burnout and becoming pushovers; helping others does not compromise success. Grant concludes with his hope that this book will provide his young daughters’ generation with a new perspective on success. A worthy goal for this excellent book. --Mary Whaley

Review

“Give and Take just might be the most important book of this young century. As insightful and entertaining as Malcolm Gladwell at his best, this book has profound implications for how we manage our careers, deal with our friends and relatives, raise our children, and design our institutions. This gem is a joy to read, and it shatters the myth that greed is the path to success.”—Robert Sutton, author of The No *sshole Rule and Good Boss, Bad Boss

“Give and Take is a truly exhilarating book—the rare work that will shatter your assumptions about how the world works and keep your brain firing for weeks after you've turned the last page.”—Daniel H. Pink, author of Drive and A Whole New Mind

“Give and Take is brimming with life-changing insights. As brilliant as it is wise, this is not just a book—it's a new and shining worldview. Adam Grant is one of the great social scientists of our time, and his extraordinary new book is sure to be a bestseller.”—Susan Cain, author of Quiet

“Give and Take cuts through the clutter of clichés in the marketplace and provides a refreshing new perspective on the art and science of success. Adam Grant has crafted a unique, ‘must have’ toolkit for accomplishing goals through collaboration and reciprocity.”—William P. Lauder, Executive Chairman, The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.

“Give and Take is a pleasure to read, extraordinarily informative, and will likely become one of the classic books on workplace leadership and management. It has changed the way I see my personal and professional relationships, and has encouraged me to be a more thoughtful friend and colleague.”—Jeff Ashby, NASA space shuttle commander

“With Give and Take, Adam Grant has marshaled compelling evidence for a revolutionary way of thinking about personal success in business and in life. Besides the fundamentally uplifting character of the case he makes, readers will be delighted by the truly engaging way he makes it. This is a must read.”—Robert Cialdini, author of Influence

“Give and Take is a brilliant, well-documented, and motivating debunking of ‘good guys finish last’! I've noticed for years that generosity generates its own kind of equity, and Grant's fascinating research and engaging style have created not only a solid validation of that principle but also practical wisdom and techniques for utilizing it more effectively. This is a super manifesto for getting meaningful things done, sustainably.”—David Allen, author of Getting Things Done

“Packed with cutting-edge research, concrete examples, and deep insight, Give and Take offers extraordinarily thought-provoking—and often surprising—conclusions about how our interactions with others drive our success and happiness. This important and compulsively-readable book deserves to be a huge success.”—Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project and Happier at Home

“One of the great secrets of life is that those who win most are often those who give most. In this elegant and lucid book, filled with compelling evidence and evocative examples, Adam Grant shows us why and how this is so. Highly recommended!”—William Ury, coauthor of Getting to Yes and author of The Power of a Positive No

“Good guys finish first—and Adam Grant knows why. Give and Take is the smart surprise you can't afford to miss."—Daniel Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness

“Give and Take is an enlightening read for leaders who aspire to create meaningful and sustainable changes to their environments. Grant demonstrates how a generous orientation toward others can serve as a formula for producing successful leaders and organizational performance. His writing is as engaging and enjoyable as his style in the classroom.”—Kenneth Frazier, Chairman, President, and CEO of Merck & Co.

“In this riveting and sparkling book, Adam Grant turns the conventional wisdom upside-down about what it takes to win and get ahead. With page-turning stories and compelling studies, Give and Take reveals the surprising forces behind success, and the steps we can take to enhance our own.”—Laszlo Bock, Senior Vice President of People Operations, Google

“Give and Take dispels commonly held beliefs that equate givers with weakness and takers with strength. Grant shows us the importance of nurturing and encouraging prosocial behaviors.”—Dan Ariely, author of Predictably Irrational

“Give and Take defines a road to success marked by new ways of relating to colleagues and customers as well as new ways of growing a business.”—Tony Hsieh, CEO, Zappos.com and author of Delivering Happiness

“A milestone! Well-researched, generous, actionable and important. Adam Grant has given us a gift, a hard-hitting book about the efficacy of connection and generosity in everything we do.”—Seth Godin, bestselling author of The Icarus Deception and Tribes

“Give and Take will fundamentally change the way you think about success. Unfortunately in America, we have too often succumbed to the worldview that if everyone behaved in their own narrow self-interest, all would be fine. Adam Grant shows us with compelling research and fascinating stories there is a better way.”—Lenny Mendonca, Director, McKinsey & Co.

“Adam Grant, a rising star of positive psychology, seamlessly weaves together science and stories of business success and failure, convincing us that giving is in the long run the recipe for success in the corporate world. En route you will find yourself re-examining your own life. Read it yourself, then give copies to the people you care most about in this world.”—Martin Seligman, author of Learned Optimism and Flourish

“Give and Take presents a groundbreaking new perspective on success. Adam Grant offers a captivating window into innovative principles that drive effectiveness at every level of an organization and can immediately be put into action. Along with being a fascinating read, this book holds the key to a more satisfied and productive workplace, better customer relationships, and higher profits.”—Chip Conley, Founder, Joie de Vivre Hotels and author, Peak and Emotional Equations

“Give and Take is a game changer. Reading Adam Grant's compelling book will change the way doctors doctor, managers manage, teachers teach, and bosses boss. It will create a society in which people do better by being better. Read the book and change the way you live and work.”—Barry Schwartz, author of The Paradox of Choice and Practical Wisdom

“Give and Take is a new behavioral benchmark for doing business for better, providing an inspiring new perspective on how to succeed to the benefit of all. Adam Grant provides great support for the new paradigm of creating a ‘win win’ for people, planet and profit with many fabulous insights and wonderful stories to get you fully hooked and infected with wanting to give more and take less."—Jochen Zeitz, former CEO and chairman, PUMA

“Give and Take is a real gift. Adam Grant delivers a triple treat: stories as good as a well-written novel, surprising insights drawn from rigorous science, and advice on using those insights to catapult ourselves and our organizations to success. I can’t think of another book with more powerful implications for both business and life.”—Teresa Amabile, author of The Progress Principle

“Adam Grant has written a landmark book that examines what makes some extraordinarily successful people so great. By introducing us to highly-impressive individuals, he proves that, contrary to popular belief, the best way to climb to the top of the ladder is to take others up there with you. Give and Take presents the road to success for the 21st century.”—Maria Eitel, founding CEO and President of the Nike Foundation

“What The No *sshole Rule did for corporate culture, Give and Take does for each of us as individuals. Grant presents an evidence-based case for the counterintuitive link between generosity and finishing first.”—Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen, coauthors of Difficult Conversations

“Adam Grant is a wunderkind. He has won every distinguished research award and teaching award in his field, and his work has changed the way that people see the world. If you want to be surprised—very pleasantly surprised—by what really drives success, then Give and Take is for you. If you want to make the world a better place, read this book. If you want to make your life better, read this book.”—Tal Ben-Shahar, author of Happier

“In an era of business literature that drones on with the same-old, over-used platitudes, Adam Grant forges brilliant new territory. Give and Take helps readers understand how to maximize their effectiveness and help others simultaneously. It will serve as a new framework for both insight and achievement. A must read!”—Josh Linkner, founder of ePrize, CEO of Detroit Venture Partners, and author of Disciplined Dreaming¶

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I've been reading this book for a few days now - finished it yesterday - and I am already finding myself changing a bit of how I operate. According to the book, I am usually a matcher - one who gives reciprocally, when I figure I can receive in return. And there isn't much wrong with that. But, according to Adam Grant and his bevy of research, otherish givers are usually the most successful.

So, let me explain.

There are three broad styles of interpersonal dealing: taking, matching, and giving. Takers are those who try to take more than they give. Matchers are those who try to give and take proportaionally and conditionally. Givers are those who give more than they take. Takers are primarily self-oriented, matchers are other-oriented as a means to being self-oriented (I'll help you when I think you will help me) and givers are primarily other-oriented.

Here's the counter-intuitive part. If we look at the most successful people - the happiest, the most likely to be promoted, etc - they are generally givers, and if we look at the least successful, they too often tend to be givers. (Takers do moderately well, but over time, few want to deal with them. Matchers do okay too.)

This book is an attempt to explain why being a giver is a good 'strategy' for success, as well as under what conditions giving is a failing 'strategy.' First, the positive: simply put, people appreciate givers and giving often makes people want to give back. Since givers help others and often put others' needs as a priority, givers often garner (without deliberately trying - AND THAT IS KEY!) a network of support from others they've helped. Want to communicate most effectively? Ask more questions to others than you give answers, ask for advice, and be aware of how you can help others. Want to bring out the best in people around you? Believe in them by recognizing and appreciating their strengths and contributions. Want to be successful? Don't think of personal relations as zero-sum games (where others can only win to the degree you lose), but positive sum games (if you win, it doesn't mean that I lose, but we can all win together).

It sounds obvious, right? But it isn't. Even when we may be givers in our personal lives, we often become matchers or takers at work. Even if the success of a giving strategy seems intuitive, it is equally intuitive that getting ahead requires receiving as much as or more than you get, spending most of your time working on things that will obviously benefit you, and not spending more time assisting others at work than getting your own stuff done. But Grant cites a growing body of research showing that giving - under the right conditions - really is the best overall 'strategy.'

Of course, I said "under the right conditions." What are those conditions? Well, for starters, one must give with some sort of purpose. Those who don't see some sort of result from their giving often burn out. (So, fundraising telemarketers burn out less when they can talk with those who their efforts have helped, and teachers burn out less when they see what their more successful students go on to do.) Also, one must give to others and things that the giver is interested in. (Volunteering for projects and to help people I care about is much easier and fun than for those I care little about.) Lastly, one must watch out not to be exploited by takers, who can often seem like givers in their agreeableness, but be exploitative in the end. (And Grant gives some good advice on how to detect real givers versus takers who are good actors.)

So, all of this is what Grant calls 'otheerish giving.' Giving selflessly versus giving a bit selfishly is, Grant writes, what ultimately separates successful from unsuccessful givers. Give, but make sure one is giving with a sense of purpose, and to people and things one cares about. Give, but not when it comes AT THE EXPENSE of one's own projects.

And this is the one area of criticism I have for Grant's otherwise well-written and VERY interesting book. He doesn't do a great job distinguishing between matchers (those who give when they think there will be something for them in return), and otherish givers (those who give selectively). .On its face, I think I have an understanding of the difference, but the ideas are very closely related.

One other small area of criticism: does it make sense to urge others to give, but then point out that giving is a good strategy to success? If one adopts giving as a strategy for success, then doesn't that mean, in a sense, that they are takers (giving because they expect to gain more than they give ultimately)? Grant warns against this tendency, telling us that giving because one expects ultimate benefits - is often a self-defeating strategy that others can detect. But, doesn't the mere fact that Grant's whole point is to show that and how giving is ultimately a winning strategy mean that many people WILL adopt it somewhat artificially because they expect a payoff? (I don't see how its avoidable.)

Anyway, I did gain a lot from this book. Not only have I found myself monitoring some of my interpersonal dealings by the advice given in this book, but it's given me insights into what working styles many of my colleagues have (which affects how I deal with them). Very good book that not only conveys some very interesting research, but should be able to give people some good and usable advice.

Oh, and as a final teaser... chapter 3 explains why Jonas Salk - typically renowned as a giver for refusing to patent his polio vaccine - is actually a taker.

This is close to the best business book I have ever read. Every story had me reflecting on my own behavior and those of the people I work with. He defines several reciprocity styles, givers, takers, matchers, and fakers. It is far more nuanced than this as one reads the book full of research and anecdotal stories it is clear that all of these styles exist in everyone depending on the situation and circumstances and what is the interaction between the parties. Adam Grant simplifies the language to make it more accessible to the reader but on reflection one can easily understand that his simplistic portraits are far more complex than is being revealed. The main point is that giving is multiplier of success but it has its conditions trigger others to become givers as well. Having worked in many large corporations and reflecting on the premise of the book it is easy to understand those internal adversarial cultures and why the are toxic to the soul and the challenges that the HR departments have when trying to create a happy face environment. It is also clear that the main issue is with leadership and why the self appointed leaders can destroy value quickly by over valuing their own self image. Want to understand the problems with executive compensation and leadership, read this book, it won't be obvious at first but try and apply the concepts to an economic system of fairness and giving and it will be evident quickly.

If you live and work by the "Art of War" then this book is going to challenge many of your notions of ruthless winner and in place it might show how diplomacy with a hint of generosity wins over all else in the longer term.

I'm a social worker and this book gives me more power to exercise my helping hand and makes me optimistic about humanity. I loved reading how good guys consistently find themselves securing positions and income by understanding the mechanics of the power of social goodness. The thesis is consistently referenced and presented in a sophisticated yet (almost entirely) understandable and down-to-earth language. With all the case studies Grant brings, in areas that are only vaguely known to me, but yet that I find interest in, the book flows. (There's only a chapter or so towards the middle that I found hard to get through).

As well, Grant's writing shows he knows how people's mind/heart connection work- with small cliff hangers that he resolves in one paragraph, and sometimes several pages, it's a surprisingly exciting read.

I would give this book to any college kid and tell them not to make any plans before reading it cover to cover. It will improve any willing recipient's social and business choices many fold.

I've always struggled to integrate my personal and professional lives, wanting to give and bless others as much as possible, but feeling that this set me up for failure in the business world. This book breaks that myth, showing that givers can succeed both personally and professionally without becoming doormats. With a deft combination of research and anecdotal evidence, Grant shows that, contrary to expectations, givers frequently rise to the top of their professions. He then explains some of the psychological forces that put them there (it's not all just good karma). He includes advice on how to change your own reciprocity style to become more giving.

If you're a giver, you know a giver, or you want to become one, then read this book.